An unremarkable student at a remarkable school
by Pelecanus
Summary: What is life like for a "normal" Hogwarts student?
1. Chapter 1

Jane Smith had recently celebrated her acceptance to a secondary school with a good reputation and didn't appreciate this strange woman- who claimed to be a Deputy Headmistress- making a mockery of her efforts by explaining that her "special talents" had earned her a place at a prestigious and obviously imaginary school for witches and wizards. Jane's parents had welcomed the stranger into their living room but now, realizing the potential madness hidden by her façade of propriety, clearly regretted it. The woman did not seem surprised by their reactions but made no move to alleviate their discomfort and leave, instead taking a sip of tea in the awkward pause.

"I know that this may seem unusual. For hundreds of years, the wizarding world has made great efforts to conceal its existence from non-magical people. Perhaps a small demonstration of magic would help."

Jane's seven-year-old brother, Toby, had been listening eagerly and started in excitement at this suggestion. "Can you turn Jane into a newt?" Jane glared at him. He didn't need this sort of encouragement.

But the stranger ignored the interruption and directed her attention at Jane's parents. "If you would suggest an object in this room, with your permission, I will levitate it."

"Me!" Toby cried, almost shouting, "Please levitate me!"

"That chair," Mrs. Smith said hurriedly, clearly wanting to humor the woman and then usher her out of the house, "But I'm afraid we won't be paying you to entertain our children. They've seen plenty of magic shows."

The woman pulled a polished stick from her handbag- presumably meant to be a wand- and pointed it towards the simple, wooden chair that Mrs. Smith had indicated. She made a dramatic waving motion and said a silly word that made Jane giggle until she stopped abruptly, her mouth still open, as the chair silently rose, hovered several centimeters above the floor, and then gently resumed its position. The three older Smiths hurried to it, running their hands over its surfaces, checking for anything unusual, while Toby tried to interrogate the woman about what else she could do.

At last, they returned to their seats and listened soberly as the woman continued telling them about this maybe-not-so-imaginary school called Hogwarts. They all had questions. Mr. Smith wanted to know what other schools taught magic and how Hogwarts ranked. Mrs. Smith wanted to know if Jane could attend as a day student and magically appear back at home each afternoon. Jane wanted to know what classes she would take. Toby wanted to know if dragons existed, why magical people didn't rule the world, whether Jane would be able to talk to animals, and- But the woman politely dismissed their questions with brief responses and explained that a collection of brochures and booklets, which she retrieved from her handbag despite its much smaller size, should answer any further questions.

"I will escort a group through a street where you will obtain some of the local magical currency and buy school supplies. Meet me at the address provided in the brochure entitled 'Diagon Alley' on Tuesday morning at 8 o'clock. Good evening."

With that, the woman walked briskly out of the house, leaving the Smiths with the strange feeling that turning their lives upside-down had just been one more task for her to complete that day.

Authors note: This is the first fanfiction story I have written. Feedback is welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Mrs. Smith looked skeptically at the solid barrier and then stumbled backwards in surprise when Toby's head appeared, seemingly detached, in the middle of it.

"Come on! It's amazing!"

Jane tugged on her hand and she reluctantly followed her daughter through. They had arrived over an hour before the departure time but the platform was crowded and chaotic by the time the Smith's finished giving Jane advice and hugs. Then Toby escaped as their parents lifted Jane's trunk onto the train and he suddenly looked miserable as they carried him off the train. So Jane went to reassure him that she would be back for the holidays and only barely got on the train before it started moving.

She began searching for a seat but all of the compartments were occupied. Most of the students were big teenagers and many of them were wearing robes so they had probably travelled directly from a magical household without entering the Muggle world. Jane suddenly felt intimidated. Everyone on the visit to Diagon Alley had been just as clueless, excited and curious as her. She had loved feeling like a tourist in an amazing but very different world despite being in London. But now she had to somehow become part of this world that she knew so little about.

Her arms ached from pulling her trunk. She wondered if she should have agreed to her mum's suggestion to use normal bags but she had to at least try to fit in and her bright red roller bag would not have helped. She was relieved to see students her age in one compartment but, when she knocked, a blonde-haired boy gave her a very disgusted look. She tried to think how she had offended him and decided that it was probably some etiquette rule only known to magical society. Later, she saw two boys deep in conversation with a rat asleep beside them but she didn't interrupt because in primary school all of her friends were girls and she was scared of another hostile reaction.

Finally, she spotted two Muggle-born students who had been with her in Diagon Alley. There were a few unfamiliar students in the same compartment but they all gestured for her to come in and a couple of them helped her lift her trunk onto a rack. Soon they were happily discussing what they knew about Hogwarts. One girl, Sarah, had a mother who seemed to have been to social events with almost every professor, except the one that taught potions. Jane and the two other Muggle-born students, Erin and Jack, were eager to hear more than what they had found in books and brochures.

"Can you do magic?" Erin asked suddenly. "I really want to try but I was told its illegal at home."

They all agreed and some complained that it was unfair.

Jack looked up from examining a chocolate frog card. "But we can do magic on the train, right?"

"It's not just about waving a wand. There is very complicated magical theory involved that we have to be carefully taught." Sarah explained condescendingly.

"Not for first-year spells," Jane protested. She had read most of her textbooks because she worried that other students would have been learning magic for years but the books were written as if all children mainly studied normal subjects before starting at Hogwarts. "They're mainly about focusing and getting the words and gestures right."

"Let's try something!" Jack said, reaching for his wand. "Let's make my trunk come down from that rack. I need to get my robes from it anyway."

"Heavy things are harder to move. And there are far more basic spells that would be better to start with," Sarah protested but Erin was already flipping through a textbook.

"Here's something! We can make it fly and then maybe lower it to the floor. You have to say 'wingardium leviosa" and do this with your wand." Erin made a complicated gesture. She passed the book to Jack who glanced through the instructions. Even Sarah looked excited as he attempted the spell but nothing happened.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to try. Several voices were saying the incantation at once and there were so many wands waving around the little compartment that Jane had to duck. She heard cries of surprise and leapt out of the way- unfortunately knocking over Sarah- just before Jack's trunk struck the floor with a loud thump. For a moment, they all silently looked up at the rack, which had warped and turned blue as if overheated.

"We can't fix that!" Sarah said despairingly and then suggested discretely leaving the compartment. After all, whoever cleaned the train could probably easily undo the damage and they didn't want to get in trouble before they even arrived.

Jane stared at her. "We have to tell someone. I don't think we broke any rules." She couldn't help imagining how disappointed her family would be if she were wrong about that. But if they didn't confess she suspected they would be caught with magic anyway.

Most of them reluctantly agreed with Jane and they eventually found a red-haired prefect who seemed oddly excited about being summoned. He easily restored the rack to its original condition and lectured them for some time. His main message seemed to be that multiple spells should not be directed at the same object and that prefects are important. When he finally left, Sarah stormed out after him.

A couple minutes later, the blonde-haired boy glanced into the compartment as if looking for someone, sneered at her, and moved on. Jane sighed and wondered how she had messed up so badly already.

"Try one," Jack suggested, offering her what looked like a bright yellow bean, "I'm guessing its yellow watermelon flavored."

"Or banana?" Erin asked.

"Too predictable." Jack argued, "Nothing here is predictable."

Someone peeked into the compartment and shyly asked, "Have any of you seen a toad?"


	3. Chapter 3

Jane was sitting in her favorite corner of the library by a window overlooking the frozen lake and vast forest reading a fascinating book about magical healing. It made modern medicine seem archaic but, unfortunately, could only be done by magical people on magical patients. So she looked up in irritation when the book drifted upwards out of her hands.

"Do you want to go exploring?" Erin asked as she lowered the book and put her wand away, with a quick glance to make sure Madam Pince hadn't seen her.

"You know we're both in danger of being withdrawn from Hogwarts," Jane reminded her. Their parents were not pleased by reports of something deadly on the third floor of the school, a break-in at the supposedly very secure bank, a troll wandering into the apparently unguarded school and a first-year student nearly falling to his death, possibly because of a cursed broomstick. But Jane loved Hogwarts. Her housemates in Ravenclaw shared her fascination with learning magic and she got to do amazing things like learning how to fly. Normal life at Hogwarts was already surprising and exciting so there was no reason to get into trouble and risk making her parents panic.

Erin pointed out that they didn't have to go to forbidden areas. The castle was so massive that, after nearly half a school year, they still kept finding unfamiliar corridors. Since there was a Quidditch match starting soon, they would not be disturbed. So Jane agreed despite misgivings. Sure enough, within several minutes, they were thoroughly lost and arguing over which way to go.

Unfortunately, that was when Peeves found them. They tried to ignore him, hoping he would find other students to bother if they weren't the only ones not watching the match. But when the poltergeist began knocking over objects, Jane worried that it was not as nonviolent as everyone seemed to think. She tried to think of a spell to chase him away but eventually resigned herself to the sensible, Muggle method and yelled, "Run."

Suddenly, they realized it was quiet aside from their footsteps and panting. They crept back to see a trail of destruction- fallen torches, singed carpets, and overturned suits of armor- leading towards them and, at the end of a long corridor, Filch scowling at the damage and walking towards them. For a moment, Jane considered explaining that they were not at fault and had skipped the Quidditch match for a perfectly innocent reason. Sighing, she nodded at Erin and they hurried away from Filch, only to find Professor Snape striding angrily along a corridor that Peeves had also damaged. There was no escape.

Frustrated, Jane began to pace, wishing she knew how to avoid getting into problems like this. Erin suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed. A door had appeared where there had not been one. With no time to think, they rushed through it. They found themselves in a small room full of bookshelves and comfortable chairs. Erin sat down with a sigh while Jane went to look at one of the bookshelves. She laughed when she found an entire section on how to ward of poltergeists. She picked a book and asked Erin to please not interrupt her with another idea for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Jane carefully secured her letter to a school owl and watched it vanish into the darkness. The sun hovered just above the trees to the east, casting a feeble light over the grounds, but the castle was still dark and silent. Jane often woke early to enjoy this time of day when Hogwarts seemed most magical. She had read that the castle was slightly sentient and wondered if it woke with its inhabitants or remained constantly aware and protective.

She doubted any of her friends would be awake this long before breakfast so she whispered, "lumos," and started navigating the dark corridors and moving staircases towards the library, being careful not to disturb the paintings. After over a year, she still sometimes felt as if she were living in a fairy tale.

Several minutes later, she thought she saw motion in the corner of her eye and quickly pointed the light from her wand in its direction. A small spider scuttled along the floor towards her. She shuddered and moved to the other side of the corridor. Then another spider ran into the light, heading in the same direction. Now, feeling a little spooked, she stopped walking and looked around. Without her footsteps, she thought she could hear a sound in the distance. She reminded herself that it was probably just another early riser or it could be that annoying ghost who haunted a nearby bathroom. But, as it grew louder, she quickly stepped into an empty classroom and quietly closed the door.

A few minutes later, feeling a little foolish but still unusually alert, she continued walking. As she approached the entrance hall, something rushed at her and collided with her, nearly knocking her over. She screamed in surprise before recognizing Erin.

"Hi! Will you practice with me?" Erin paused for breath, readjusting her grip on a plastic bag full of tennis balls. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just thought I heard something. Practice what?"

"Quidditch, of course. Our houses are having try-outs soon."

"But we've never played. And we barely passed the flying test last year."

"Don't be so pessimistic! I heard Potter only flew once before he joined his house team. And I've got a plan."

She explained how she would charm the tennis balls since actual Quidditch balls were expensive and she would sign out the school brooms early in the morning, every morning, when the field would be deserted. "Oh and watch out for Sarah," she added, "One of the tennis balls hit her when I was learning how to charm them last night. She's really angry. I tried to explain what tennis is but she's convinced that the balls are weapons and that you were involved."

 _Author's note: If anyone has read this before, I'm sorry about the repeated paragraphs. I'm not sure how that happened and I've corrected it now. Also, I will upload a new chapter really soon and I intend to finish this story._


	5. Chapter 5

Dear Mum and Dad,

I know you're worried but I promise Hogwarts is a perfectly normal school and is safe as any other. After all, they have to answer to parents and a board of governors. Really the only difference is the magic.

Werewolves aren't as bad as you probably think. I don't know how much the letter the school sent explained, but that professor was taking a potion that let him behave normally in his werewolf form. And for the vast majority of the time- all except a few nights each month- he was just like any other person. In fact, he was my favorite teacher. I don't think he was ever a threat to us. He only kept his lycanthropy secret and left when it was revealed because people discriminate.

That escaped prisoner hasn't been spotted for a while. I think it was just a fluke that he got into the school those times and I'm sure it won't happen again with the dementors guarding us. By the way, I don't think they attacked the boy who fell of his broom during the first Quidditch match. It was probably just an accident. After all, the dementors are here to protect the students! They're just like police except they're not human and can eat souls. Its unpleasant being near them but it only takes a bit of chocolate to recover (I like the excuse).

Also I don't agree with what you wrote about the classes here being dangerous. I know you're upset about the Hippogriff but the more hands-on classes are just like science labs in normal schools in that students who don't follow directions can get hurt. The boy with the injured arm was really disrespectful to that Hippogriff. Potions explosions are pretty rare. And the Boggart might sound bad but it was really harmless. It only pretends to be something people are scared of. That makes it a lot less dangerous than many animals that we're used to having around. Getting rid of them can actually be really funny.

As for Quidditch, think how many people get injured playing football- and they can't be magically healed! Erin and I are really happy to get into reserve teams. To make you feel better, we still haven't got to play in a match and I don't think the good players even notice us.

Most of the time, I'm doing the sort of things that any student would do. I'm studying a lot more now but it's worth it because we've finally got passed the basics and my electives are really interesting. And I really enjoyed the Hogsmeade trips.

So please don't make me leave Hogwarts. I'm doing really well here. Didn't you always say that a good education is important? Just because this is different from what you expected, that doesn't mean it's not worth it.

Love,

Jane


End file.
